Pradeep Multani, President-PHDCCI and Chairman-Multani Pharmaceuticals talks about the tele-healthcare landscape in India
As one of the most significant economies of the world, India offers a great hope today and our concerted efforts at multiple fronts including the healthcare businesses will further vitalise its prominence in the world order. In this difficult time, when our priorities are to keep India and the world safe from the severe challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic and unprecedented operational disruptions, the healthcare industry awaits innovations as per the changing needs.
To overcome these testing times, “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” essentially aims to foster the local entrepreneurial ecosystem and export potential in India. While relying on self-reliance for realising its own actual potential, the “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” is not aimed to lessen India’s deep engagement with the rest of the world. In fact, the mission is clearly aimed to open the world of opportunities from India. As India’s National Apex Industry Chamber, PHDCCI is deeply inspired with the Prescient Vision and Mission-in-Progress of “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” that strengthens the bases of government-industry interface and works to maximise its impact at the policy and grass-root levels.
The Union Budget 2022-23 made an unprecedented push to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure. Such an enabling ecosystem opens up the new opportunities at newer frontiers including for tele-healthcare.While the adequate physical infrastructure is in place in India and its leading hospitals have state-of-the-art medical technology, what additionally in favour is the digital capability which effectively ensures the cost-effective tele-healthcare at mass level. With its edge as a knowledge economy and IT superpower, India is endowed with tele-healthcare and thus in position to bridge the healthcare gap. Tele-helthcare’s merit should be seen in the context of healthcare inclusion, which is a pressing commitment for India as a very successful democracy and economy.
As the need of the hour, the essence of the participatory model of democracy should well reflect through the policies and let the businesses and Indians of all classes get the handholding through various progressive policy measures. The new technology and its increasingly growing interface with healthcare are making it possible today to have highly-trained doctors’ treating patients irrespective of the geographical barriers. This is absolutely a phenomenon as the same was not possible a few years back without the strong digital-healthcare interface and high-speed Internet across the country. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to term it as one of the ‘success stories’ in India.
With the success rate of treatments is about 75 per cent and coming to terms with the common risk factors, tele-healthcare is fast emerging as a reliable and safe option. However, it is true that critical illness beyond a level still needs to get the conventional support system where the physical hospitals’ have no alternatives. Notwithstanding the constraints, tele-healthcare is a sort of panacea for the healthcare requirements of general nature and for the working professionals and people located remotely from the medical hubs of the country. Also, it should be taken into positive consideration since India is the healthcare destination of other South Asian countries and even from many different sub-continents for being reliable and economical.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a doctor to population ratio of 1/1000. In India, it remains low as 0.67/1000. Hence, tele-healthcare has immense potential and possibilities in India where the high population base, diversity and spending capacity will help tele-healthcare to grow. The use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), no compulsion of in-person treatments and reduced medical waste are the key advantages in favour of tele-healthcare. Now tele-consultations, e-pharmacies and remote monitoring are gaining trust and acceptance amongst the patients as well as the healthcare professionals. The global pandemic COVID-19 questioned the existing healthcare infrastructure and norms across the globe and India was certainly not an exception. India’s adaptation to the ‘new normal’ was prompt and far-sighted and that helped it to lessen the impact of the third wave.
With an ever growing acceptance of tele-health, in the month of March 2020, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India with NITI Aayog, Board of Governors (BoG) and Medical Council of India (MCI) released the first set of formal guidelines to regulate tele-healthcare practices across the nation. The guidelines reflected on the glaring healthcare gap which tells that 75 per cent of India’s doctors are based in cities and urban areas, while over 68 per cent of the Indian population resides in rural areas. Thus there is reason to believe that tele-health is the next healthcare medium that can support India’s mission in bridging the healthcare gap between the urban and rural populations and ensuring fair access.
Industry stands together with the government to streamline the universal healthcare facilities across India by partnering in the tele-healthcare revolution in the country. The coming times will be crucial in establishing India as the global tele-healthcare destination of the world. India’s strides are in that direction.
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